


well its 3 AM again, like it always seems to be

by zinabug



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I wrote this in the middle of the night with minimal edits, Post-Finale, so if it's awful I'm sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:34:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26773000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zinabug/pseuds/zinabug
Summary: Minkowski sighed and closed her eyes again.She’d just woken up for the second time tonight from nightmares, her head and wound hurt, and there was a little piece of bandage that was poking her, and every attempt to fix it just made it worse.More than anything, she just wanted to scream, pass out, and have no dreams until they were home.She settled for some coffee.
Relationships: Doug Eiffel & Renée Minkowski
Comments: 10
Kudos: 28





	well its 3 AM again, like it always seems to be

**Author's Note:**

> title is a lyric form 3am by Gregory Alan Isakov

Minkowski sighed and closed her eyes again. 

She’d just woken up for the second time tonight from nightmares, her head and wound hurt, and there was a little piece of bandage that was poking her, and every attempt to fix it just made it worse. 

More than anything, she just wanted to scream, pass out, and have no dreams until they were home. 

She settled for some coffee. 

* * *

Minkowski leaned on the counter sipping her coffee. The Urania’s kitchen was dark and quiet, only sounds the ever-present humming of engines and life support— it  _ sounded  _ smoother than the Hephaestus’s had, ran quieter and with less stop and sputters. 

She had gotten about a quarter through her coffee when she realized she didn’t know what time it was. It even might be a normal time to be up and having coffee— although she doubted it. Lovelace was up and doing things as early as 4:30 some days, so it was probably closer to 3am. 

She took another sip of her coffee. It was after midnight, and before 4:30… she could definitely just ask Hera, but it felt wrong to disturb the quiet moment with talking to Hera. She didn’t want to talk to anyone very much. 

“Renée?” 

Minkowski sighed and closed her eyes. Out of any of the people who could have come to talk to her  _ now,  _ when she didn’t want to talk to  _ anyone-  _

“Yes, Doug?” 

“I— I heard you get up. Are you okay?” He spoke so carefully, just another reminder that he didn’t know her like she knew him. 

She shrugged. “Fine. Shouldn’t you be asleep?” 

“I can’t sleep. My head hurts.” Eiffel pulled himself along the counter opposite her on his way to get a drink of water. “You?” 

“Nightmare.” She reached for the healing wound on her stomach, almost unconsciously. That one bit of bandage was still poking her. 

Eiffel nodded and took a sip from his water. He didn’t slurp obnoxiously with the straw like he used to. Minkowski certainly didn’t miss it, but it was just another one of those little things you didn’t notice until they were gone. 

She looked away from him and sighed. She  _ really _ didn’t want to think about anything but continuing to try to figure out what time it was, but thoughts still crept in at the edges. They always did. 

From behind her, Eiffel started coughing. 

She whipped around, panic flooding into her, and she was next to him in an instant. 

He looked puzzled and a little frightened and moved away from her a couple inches, still coughing and wiping his mouth. He’d choked on his water. That was all. Just choked on his water. He was fine. 

“Are you alright?” She asked, hating how stiff she sounded. 

He nodded, patting his chest a couple of times. 

She could see the tip of a scar peeking over his shirt collar. A scar from where Hilbert had had to cut him open to save his life from decima. 

Eiffel caught his breath after a couple more seconds and the two of them sat in silence in the kitchen, Minkowski taking sips of her coffee much faster than she needed to. 

“Renée?” 

“Yes?” She closed her eyes for a second.  _ He was going to ask about the decima, wasn’t he, and she did not want to talk about that— _

“I— um—“ he sighed. “Listen, I don’t remember the things that make you wake up screaming. But I was there too, and even though I don’t know what happened, I can still… feel the wrongness there.” Eiffel bit his lip, the way he always did when he was thinking about what to say, and cautiously placed his hand on Minkowski’s arm. “I’m sorry. I— you aren’t the only one with nightmares, but you know why you have them. You can remember them.” 

Minkowski looked at Eiffel’s hand on her arm for a long time, before she placed her hand over it. “It’s okay.” 

_ It is not okay and has never once been okay.  _

“I— this is probably a stupid wish, but I wish I knew all the horrible things that we’d gone though together.” Eiffel smiled faintly at her. “Just—“

“It’s okay.” 

_ It still wasn’t okay. It would never be okay again.  _

“I miss you.” Eiffel suddenly blurred out, before biting his lip again. “I know, you should be the one missing me and things, but— I— I miss a you I never knew.” 

“Eiffel—“ Minkowski stopped and sighed. “Come here.” 

Minkowski was not a hugger. But she was willing to make exceptions. Eiffel was (unfairly) much taller than her, and her face was pressed into his chest, since the two were floating just above the floor. 

He ruffled her hair, and she could just tell that he was smiling. 

Minkowski squeezed her eyes tightly shut, ignoring the tear that trickled down her cheek. “I miss you too,” she whispered into his chest. “I miss you too.” 


End file.
